Devices for ionizing air or air streams for electrostatic dust separation and/or dust collection at a charged collector have been heretofore suggested and/or utilized (see, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,650,672 and 4,811,159, and German Patent Nos. DE 3201835 A1 and DE 3528590 A1). Surface cleaning devices have also been heretofore suggested and/or utilized which provide for ionization adjacent to a surface to be cleaned, with blowers directed at the surface to dislodge particles, vacuums for suctioning away the dislodged particles being provided adjacent to the surface. Some such devices have included a charged attraction member associated with the vacuum (see U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,835,808, 4,198,061 and 4,751,759).
Such heretofore known devices have not, however, adequately addressed the problem of disbonding particles, including microorganisms, electrostatically held to a product surface, nor have such devices been configured for adaptability for use with a variety of products the surface or surfaces of which are to be cleaned. Further improvement in such devices which addresses the problem of electrostatic bonding, which provides adaptable to a variety of uses, and which avoids undue complexity, for example by elimination of vacuums and the like, could thus still be utilized.